Mark Campbell didn’t build TCU’s latest women’s basketball roster the way he built the last one, and that was the point.
After two straight seasons at the top of the Big 12 race and back-to-back Elite Eight trips, the No. 15 Horned Frogs are heading into 2025-26 with a much younger group than the veteran-laden teams that came before them.
TCU opens the season at 7 p.m. Nov. 2 against Oral Roberts at Schollmaier Arena, and every player on this roster still has multiple years of eligibility left.
Campbell said the shift was deliberate.
“It was absolutely intentional,” Campbell said Tuesday. “Where we started three years ago we had 1-17 program [in the Big 12] and you had to get old in order to compete. The success that we’ve had the last two years allowed us to go out and assemble a roster of really talented young players.”
That roster was pieced together through the transfer portal and international recruiting. The portal brought in junior sharpshooter Lanie Grant from North Carolina, junior point guard Jadyn Wooten from Oklahoma State and sophomore forward Lara Somfai. On the international side, TCU added preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year Jessie-May Hall from Australia, 22-year-old guard Claudia Contell from Spain and 6-foot-5 center Laura Vilcinskas from Belgium.
The Frogs also bring back some important pieces. Junior center Clara Silva remains one of the nation’s top rim protectors, sophomore wing Clara Bielefeld returns, and the 6-8 Sarah Portlock is also back.
Campbell isn’t backing off expectations just because the roster looks different.
“I think we have a chance to have a very special season and then the hope is that you can keep the core together and be able to run it back the following year,” Campbell said.
The biggest hole, of course, is Olivia Miles. TCU’s Big 12 Player of the Year last season and the No. 2 overall pick in the WNBA Draft by the Minnesota Lynx, Miles was a centerpiece for the Horned Frogs.
She followed that with All-American honors, then became WNBA Rookie of the Year and finished second in MVP voting as a rookie. Campbell said Miles had already reached a level that put her among the best players in the world.
Replacing that kind of talent won’t happen by handing the job to one player.
“You don’t replace Olivia Miles with any one player,” Campbell said. “You do it by a committee and I absolutely love the guards we have.”
That committee starts with Wooten, Hall and Contell, who will all get chances to steer TCU’s pick-and-roll-heavy attack - the same style that fueled breakout years for Van Lith and Miles. Campbell pointed to Hall and Contell as players who could quickly become favorites in Fort Worth.
“Jessie-May Hall is a treat you guys. She’s a little stick of dynamite, incredible athlete.
Explosive. One of the best passers that we’ve had here,” Campbell said.
“She’s not your traditional freshman with her poise and the way she plays the game. Claudia, she’s in her first year of college.
She’s 22 and has two years of eligibility left.
“She’s another very unique pick and roll playmaker that can really shoot it. She has a great flair, there’s gonna be some highlights and you gotta live with some of the high risk stuff she does. There’ll be some turnovers that come, but Claudia is another one that the fans are gonna love.”
Contell arrives after six years of professional basketball, including time in Spain’s top division. Hall played semi-professionally in Australia for three seasons and led her team in points, rebounds, assists and steals every year.
Wooten brings her own track record after averaging 12.8 points and 5.4 assists last season at Oklahoma State. Campbell said she fits the mold of the dynamic lead guard TCU has had under his watch.
“We’ve had a dynamic playmaking guard every year that I’ve been head coach,” Campbell said. “With Jadyn, we’re excited.
She was an incredible Big 12 player. I’m so excited to put her in all those actions and give her the freedom to go make plays.
She’s been awesome, an incredible leader.”
Around those three guards, TCU has a roster built to make another March Madness push. Grant gives the Frogs one of the nation’s better shooters.
Somfai offers a versatile answer to the departure of Marta Suarez. The frontcourt is deep with three centers listed at 6-5 or taller, and the transfer class also includes guards Bella Hines from LSU, Camille Williams from Miami and Avery Hjelmstad from Utah.
There will still be work to do in the early going as Campbell sorts out roles and tries to build chemistry, but the coach sees the ingredients for another run.
“I think we’re gonna be right there and have another incredible opportunity to win a Big 12 title,” Campbell said.
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